Thread: Questions about the masts building the Beth

Originally Posted by Rumpelstilskin

I have been building the Beth sailing canoe as my first boat build, and I have come across a few areas where I can't quite figure out what to do. If somebody in this forum who has built the Beth were to help me, that would be very helpful.

One of the areas where this I am having difficulties is the amount that the masts are supposed to rake back. I have been looking at pictures, and in half of them it looks like the mast is straight up and down and in other pictures it looks like the mast is raked back a bit.

My other question is about the main mast step. I was wondering if the skinny end, or the fat end was pointed toward the front of the boat.

My last question is about varnish. Because I am not going to paint the interior, I was wondering what type of varnish I should use, and whether to use it just in the cockpit, and on the outside, or to varnish the compartments as well.

Thanks!

Hello. My name is Allan and I belong to the post right after yours on this forum. I notice that you are not getting any replies either so I thought I would reach out to you. This of course will put you ahead of me in the "who has the most replies game?" but I have a few more views than you so we can call it even. With regards to your boat. Ideally I would recommend that you coat every square inch of your build with something, even if you have used marine grade plwood throughout. Again, if you can, I would recommend you use epoxy. Paint over that on the outside of the boat if you want to. Cover every bit of epoxy that will see daylight on the inside of the boat with varnish, so this would likely be all of the cockpit. Buy the best varnish that you can afford. This will usually involve going to a specialty marine store. The varnish there might cost 2 to 3 times what you will spend at a big box store but it also won't be peeling off after a single season. If the compartments are covered in epoxy and sealed that should be sufficient. If you have hatches on the compartments and are going to store things in them, sometimes it is nice to paint the insides of the compartment with a light colour just to brighten it up in there and make it easier to see things that you might be looking for. Hope this helps. I have no advice regarding the mast. Cheers.

Thanks, that was pretty helpful!

Sorry Rumplestiltskin,

I replied to your message, but it didn't get saved.

My email address is [email protected]

Or if you use the dreaded facebook there is a very useful group there. Email me for details on that. It is a quick and responsive way to get information.

Best Regards
MIK